Cure for the common cold

Like almost everyone else in the United States, I seem to have gotten some sort of cold.  Upon recommendation of my Dad, I tried some Theraflu and it is really pretty amazing stuff.  It soothed my throat and dried up my snot-maker.  I still feel pretty miserable though so I decided to amp it up a bit.

Ginger brandy for what ails you!

I remember my Grandpa sipping on ginger brandy when he had a cold.  He wasn’t a drinker at all so for him to hit the brandy, it must have been effective.  I headed to the local drug store tonight.  After slinking through the liquor aisle, I found a bottle of the exact brand of ginger brandy Grandpa used to drink.  Like Grandpa, I am not much of a drinker.  I had no idea how to drink brandy so I figured I would start with a straw.  It worked but it didn’t seem too tough drinking hooch through a straw.  I considered how they drink on tv so I decided to do brandy shots.  I can report that after 11 shots, I am not feeling any pain at all.  I have developed a red nose though.

Anyhow, I am definitely feeling no pain, but I don’t know that I truly knocked out the cold.  With a bit of scientific Google research, I found a few more home remedies to try out.  I read that zinc can shorten the life of a cold.  I didn’t have any zinc laying around but I know that pennies are made partly of zinc.  The above study said 15 mg of zinc is the recommended dose for men.  Pennies are 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper.  An individual penny weighs 2.5 grams.  Though I am in an altered state, I believe that means that each penny has 2437.5 mg of zinc.  As always, if some is good, more is better so I swallowed 2 pennies and another shot of brandy.  I also discovered that increased copper will help reduce LDL cholesterol and lower blood pressure…awesome!  And another shot of brandy for health!

I found a listing of all sorts of home remedies as well.  Some were easy to try.  One suggestion is that lemon and some honey mixed in water would reduce the length of a cold.  I have honey from my bees but I am a little short on lemons.  The kids still had some Halloween candy so I swiped a packet of lemonheads from their stash and chased them with a tablespoon of honey.  Now, I expect that some of this stuff will help my cold.  By the way, is a headache part of the recovery from a cold?  I am starting to get a bit of a headache and a cottony mouth…we’ll see how that turns out.  Anyhow, does anyone else have any home remedies that work?  I am in need!

17 thoughts on “Cure for the common cold

  1. You may have found a cure for the common cold, but what about the subsequent belly ache?

    I am not sure the zinc in a penny is going to be available for digestion, particularly with that copper jacket. I give zinc to my goats, that I think is in the form of zinc sulfate. Even then, only about 60% of it is available for digestion. It might bear some looking into.

    I have to agree with the earlier comment, after 11 shots my scientific resaoning would be impared also. And for me, the alcohol induced migraine of the next day would make me forget all about any cold symptoms. From the old commercial, “If this is a Cold” toot toot “This is a migraine” roar of approaching freight train in the background….
    -mmp

  2. I am not much of a drinker…11 shots would likely have killed me. I really only nursed two small glasses of it. It’s funny, but I think it did help. It just burned the “stuff” off the back of my throat which I think was half of my problem.

    I didn’t think about chicken noodle soup until this morning (brandy cleared my thinking too?!) so I may try a little of that tonight as well!

  3. Warren is really nursing this along. I think he is trying to get some sympathy out of me. He’ll have to be in a lot worse shape for that to happen! (I personally think that chocolate is a cure all for everything.)

  4. Okay, that picture is too much. I make a tea with Garlic Cloves, Lemon, and Honey when we are under the weather. It actually doesn’t taste too bad if you do it correctly. Just don’t plan on making any new friends after you drink it!

  5. A friend was teasing me about this post a little. I mentioned to him that in a few days, I will have something to contribute when someone asks for my 2 cents on a topic!

  6. The only flaw I see with the penny remedy (because of course, there’s just ONE flaw, as I see it) is that pennies tend to…..well, pass through the system in the unprocessed state! Hey, I have kids. I’ve seen the evidence!

  7. I can report that day to of brandy therapy was a success! I fell right asleep last night without problem. Of course, Abigail showed up in our bed sometime between 4 and 5 this morning which sort of cut the therapy session short. Anyhow…

    I suppose the zinc therapy wasn’t too well thought out. I saw screws and bolts at the hardware that are zinc plated. I wonder if they would absorb better…hmmm….

  8. GREAT POST – LMAO!!!!

    My Old Family Cold Remedy = just before bedtime pour a double shot of Whiskey into a mug and fill with boiling water (you may also add the honey and lemon). Inhale the steam while waiting for it to cool just enough to sip. Finish the whole cup while sipping it as hot as possible. Go to bed and bundle up as warm as possible. You will probably wake up during he night covered in sweat and need to change into something dry. Go back to sleep. Repeat as neccessary, but once should do it.

    BTW loved the photo!

  9. Grey Wolf – I have been repeating my remedy over and over…still no cure. I will try the boiling water and whiskey route…back to slinking around in the liquor store!

  10. I’m a huge fan of breathing eucalyptus, rosemary & oregano steam for the cold, works like charm for me. I also take astragulus root extract in water when I start feeling sick. I haven’t had a full-blown cold in 4 years (knock on wood, I’ll probably get one next week). I’ll blame you of course for giving to me.

    Chiot’s Run’s last blog post..Plants for Thought

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